21P R O C E E D I N G
S23MS. AMSLER:On behalf of SPIDR and most4especially as Co-Chair of the Youth Conference, I5would like to welcome the Honorable Janet Reno,6Attorney General of the United States.7I think that it's most
appropriate that8we be true to our word and give the voice to the9youth.So I would like to first
of all ask
10Miranda to say a few words about
why the youth are
11here.And then we will move on to Daniel who
will
12share with the Attorney General a
little bit about
13what we have been doing.And then Keena will
14actually formally introduce
Janet.
15MIRANDA:Thank you.Good morning.
16The reason that this
conference is being
17held this year for the youth is
because we would
18like to get the youth to come
here and procure
19ideas for an agenda or youth
declaration to
20presented in the year 2000.This agenda would
21detail ideas of how we think
conflicts should be
22resolved at the end of the 21st
Century.And it's
23just to have the youth of today
help the youth of
24tomorrow so that we will have a
much better world.
25Thank you.

31(Applause)2DANIEL:Hello, I'm Daniel.3Again, we have come together as
a4community to find out what is happening within the5bounds of our world.We have
discovered what6conflict resolution is doing across the globe and7what needs to be done in the future to expand that8involvement, that change that needs to take place9is very important in all of our hearts.We define
10today what is going to happen
tomorrow.We can
11look above and see what is going
on in the world
12and really find in your
involvement what we can
13see with our hearts.
14(Applause)
15KEENA:Good evening, ladies and
16gentlemen.
17It's a great honor for me
today to
18introduce to you all the first
woman Attorney
19General of the United States, who
directs also the
20U.S. Department of Justice and
has been a strong
21supporter of conflict
resolution.To me she is a
22role model because in our society
today not many
23women are given the high support
that they really
24deserve to be given.
25(Applause)

41It's a great pleasure to
introduce to2you all the Attorney General for the United3States, Ms. Janet Reno.4(Applause)5MS. RENO:Thank you very much.6I was particularly excited when
I7learned that I would have the opportunity to talk8with you today because I find that young people9have better ideas than anybody else I know about
10how to address the problems that
we face in this
11century and the next in a common
sense way that
12can make life more peaceful for
everyone.
13For 15 years I served
as the Chief
14Prosecutor in Miami,
Florida.I went to a
15different public school on the
average of once a
16week trying to hear from young people
about what
17we could do better.So I want you to be thinking
18of questions for me or
suggestions.And I have
19got a pen and a piece of paper
here because I want
20to take back to Washington your
ideas.
21(Applause)
22I am also going to look
forward to
23receiving a report on all the
talks that have been
24developed in this
conference.So just remember
25one question I'm going to ask at
the end:If you

51were the Attorney General of the United States,2what would you do to improve conflict resolution3to make this world more peaceful and to reduce4violence.Be thinking of the
answer to that5question, and questions you have for me.6As Attorney General I am
responsible for7the FBI, the DEA, the Immigration and8Naturalization Service and the Bureau of Prisons,9agencies are facing much of the conflict in the
10nation today.I have tried to use the tools, the
11skills, the art of conflict
resolution in the
12Department of Justice.
13I bring people together
around my
14conference table in the big conference
room where
15Bobby Kennedy served as Attorney
General.And
16there will be three people on
this side having one
17view and three people on the
other.I am learning
18from my friends who are experts
in conflict
19resolution how to mediate, how to
get them to
20negotiate, and sometimes how to
be the arbitrator.
21It is a wonderful
experience.It is
22wonderful to see what happens as
we apply conflict
23resolution techniques so that we
avoid trials and
24expensive litigation and get
problems solved for
25the American people up
front.

61In our Community Policing
Program,2President Clinton has promised to put 100,0003community police officers on the streets of4America, police officers who want to listen to the5people in their neighborhoods and work with them,6not against them, in developing priorities and7identifying problems and resolving disputes.And8we're trying to teach them what the professionals9have taught us about conflict resolution.
10We have a marvelous
tool that gives to
11people with disabilities access
to so much that
12they never had before.It's the Americans With
13Disabilities Act.And some businesses say it's
14too difficult to comply with the
act and we're not
15going to do it.So a person with a disability
16comes to us and asks us to file a
lawsuit.
17We're finding that we
can mediate that
18problem to the satisfaction of
all concerned in a
19much more effective, long-lasting
way.We are
20making a difference because of
what you and others
21are doing in forging the way in
conflict
22resolution.
23But the issue that I
think is one of the
24greatest problems that we face in
this country
25today, an issue that has been
close to my heart

71for a long time, is the problem of increasing2youth violence.That will become
a greater3problem in this nation as the number of young4people increases significantly in the next ten5years.I have fought as hard as I
could as6Attorney General to work with local law7enforcement to reduce that violence.8When a child or young person
commits a9serious crime there should been a punishment that
10is fair, that is firm, that fits
the crime.But
11we should also focus on what
caused the crime in
12the first place, what was the
problem, and work
13together to resolve that
problem.
14We have much to learn
from our native
15American friends in terms of
sentencing circles
16and community and restoring the
justice that goes
17with healing and to peace and not
to advocacy and
18not to adversarial
solutions.We have much to
19learn in terms of what we can do
to improve
20mediation skills among teachers
and police
21officers.And I need your thoughts as to what I
22can better do in Washington to
address these
23issues.
24We can do so much if we
teach our young
25people how to resolve disputes
without knifes and

81guns and fists.And you, you are
the leaders in2this effort.What you are doing
here is truly3making a difference around the world.4(Applause)5One of the most important
things we must6do is never give up on our young people.There7are going to be young people that get in trouble. 8But we shouldn't write them off.We should sit9down with them in probation programs and juvenile
10justice institutions and teach
them how to come
11back to the community with a
chance of living
12strong, positive, constructive
lives.And
13conflict resolution and the tools
that you are
14helping to disseminate across
this nation are so
15important in that regard.
16But violence is a
learned behavior.And
17one of the best places to learn
violence is in
18your very younger years.It's the most formative
19time in a person's life.And this is how I
20learned about that.In 1985 the crack epidemic
21hit Miami and the doctors asked
me to come over to
22our public hospital to try to
figure out what to
23do about crack involved infants
and their mothers.
24We could not send the
babies home with
25their mothers.They were totally incapable of

91taking care of them.So they
stayed in the2nursery.They were not held or
talked to except3when changed or fed.And they
weren't beginning4to react with human emotions, whereas a child5across the room who was born with terrible birth6defects was beginning to respond to both her7parents who were with her almost around the clock.8And the experts taught me that
the first9formative time in a person's life is the first
10three years when the child learns
the concept of
11reward and punishment and
develops a conscience.
12Fifty percent of all learned
human response is
13learned in those first
years.And if that is the
14case, we must focus all, much of
our effort on how
15we teach the very young to grow
up, not to fight
16over a block, not to fight over a
book, not to
17push one another off the toy, but
to resolve their
18disputes early on.
19If we can teach these young children
to
20read, to write, to do basic
arithmetic as they
21grow up, surely we can teach them
how to resolve
22disputes in a peaceful way, how
to problem solve
23rather than to confuse the issue,
how to listen
24and to talk to people so that you
can develop
25understanding, how to respect
each other rather

101than to put down each other, how to appreciate the2great and marvelous and magnificent diversity of3this nation and this world, and to realize how4much every person, regardless of where they come5from, how much they have to contribute.6We can do so much if we make a7commitment.And I want to make a
commitment to8you, if I live that long.This is
the 24th Annual9Conference of the Society of Professionals In
10Dispute Resolution.Twenty-four years from now
11will be their 48th conference.And let's just say
12that in Miami, Florida, where I
expect to be
13living, and I'm an 82-year-old
little, old lady
14who comes tripping into the
meeting, I hope you
15all as the leaders that will take
us into that
16time, who will help us forge a new century,
who
17will set the directions of the
new century, will
18be able to show that little, old
lady sitting in
19the back of the room that you
have developed a
20nation and nations that focus on
conflict
21resolution so that every child
will have learned
22the skills, every teacher, every
community police
23officer, every parks and
recreation specialist
24will have the skills to mediate
and to help people
25resolve conflict.

111Businessmen won't have to go to
court2because they will be taught conflict resolution. 3Lawyers may have to occasionally try a case, but4lawyers will be taught in every law school in this5country how to resolve disputes without6complicated process, and more than process, how to7resolve disputes and solve the problem on a8permanent basis.9(Applause)
10The 19th Century in
this nation is
11remembered as the century of
cowboys and Indians
12and shootouts at the Okay
Corral.This century
13has been a century of great wars
and now youth
14violence and conflict in
different parts of the
15world.I hope that working together, drawing
16ideas from you for the future of
tomorrow, drawing
17ideas from people who care so
much about this
18country and this world, that we
can make the 21st
19 Century the century of
peace.
20(Applause)
21And now with that, I'm
anxious to hear
22your ideas, questions or the
answer to that
23question, if you were Attorney
General what would
24you do to make this world more
peaceful.
25QUESTION:My name is Melissa.

121MS. RENO:Why don't you come up here to2the microphone.And here is
another one.3QUESTION:My name is Melissa from New4Jersey, Wilson Park High School.I have a5question for you.6What are you doing presently in
trying7to implement new initiatives in conflict8resolution?Can you update us on
any new9developments at the government level?
10MS. RENO:What we have tried to do is
11we have developed an Alternative
Dispute
12Resolution Program for our
litigators.I have
13appointed a senior lawyer as head
of our conflict
14or our Alternative Dispute
Resolution Program.
15And he has developed regional
programs across the
16country for all of our
lawyers.We have not
17gotten them all trained but we
are training them
18in how to resolve conflicts
without going to
19court.
20We are also working
through our Office
21of Juvenile Justice programs in
terms of trying to
22pull together what is working and
not working in
23youth conflict resolution
programs.And we are
24working with the Department of
Education.
25We had a conference
this last

131October 17th in St. Louis and we will have2regional conferences around the country.And one3of the things that we are doing which is so4important, when we invite schools or social5service agencies or community-based organizations,6we are saying bring a team, bring a young person7with you on that team.8I mentioned earlier what we are
doing9with the Americans With Disabilities Act in terms
10of providing a grant to an
institution skilled in
11this area so that they can
develop mediation
12programs.And we're resolving a large number of
13complaints with mediation and
without further
14litigation.Those are some of the initiatives
15that were undertaken.
16One area that I am focused
on a great
17deal is how we resolve conflicts
in law
18enforcement settings.You probably followed the
19situation with the Montana
Freemen.Director Freeh
20and the FBI working with the
Department of Justice
21have tried to do everything we
could to develop
22better litigation skills to
understand how best to
23use mediators in standoff
situations.
24Our Community Relations
Service has been
25in operation now for over 30
years.And they have

141done some wonderful work in conflict resolution in2communities that are in disturbance.3So those are some of the
initiatives4we're undertaking. We've got a
lot more to do,5though. 6(Applause)7QUESTION:Good afternoon, Attorney8General.My name is Teresa Gay
and I go to9Westminster High School in Westminster.
10I believe that the
society we live in
11today has continued to challenge
us with conflicts
12that we have never encountered
before due to the
13advancement in technology and the
changes in the
14traditional family unit.What do you suggest and
15how will you continue to help us
in our quest for
16peace and how should we combat or
adjust to these
17changes?
18MS. RENO:First of all, with respect to
19the change in the family unit, I
think that
20raising children is the single
most difficult
21thing I know to do.I have never been married and
22I don't have children of my
own.But in 1984 a
23friend died leaving me as the
legal guardian of
24her 15-year-old twins, a boy and
a girl.And the
25girl was in love and I learned an
awful lot about

151raising children since that time.I have learned2that it takes hard work, intelligence, and an3awful lot of love and an awful
lot of luck, that4it is one of most rewarding experiences that5anybody can have.6With single parents trying to
raise7children, with more and more instances where both8parents are working to make ends meet to give9their children a future, we have children more
10alone and at loose ends except
for their peers or
11television than probably at any
time in history.
12One of the things that
I am doing in the
13Department of Justice is trying
to make sure that
14we orient our work around family
as much as
15possible through telecommuting,
through flexible
16work hours, through shifts,
through shared jobs
17not just for the mother but for
both parents
18because I think it's important
that both parents
19be involved in raising their
children.
20And so those are some
of the initiatives
21that I am undertaking.And when I go to a law
22 school for a graduation, I say --
now a lot of you
23when I graduated, your fathers
when I graduated
24from law school wanted to know
how much money they
25were going to make.That's an important question.

161But not only ask the law firm with whom you are2interviewing or the companies with whom you are3interviewing or the school system with whom you4are interviewing what are you going to pay me, but5ask them what are you going to do in terms of6family leave programs and programs that put family7first in the work place, too.And
I urge you all8to do that, too, as you start looking for jobs as9you grow older.
10(Applause)
11I'll be right
there.Don't give up on
12me yet.
13Technology was the
first part.I think
14technology gives us wonderful
hopes for the future
15and it creates extraordinary
risks for the future.
16In both instances I think the
aspects of
17technology that we face stagger
the imagination
18and convert vanity to
prayer.
19One of your great
challenges will be to
20use the Internet and Cyberspace
to bring us
21together, not to split us
apart.And we should
22understand that we have got to
rebuild communities
23around so many children and
families at risk.But
24the community of tomorrow is
going to be the world
25which will be able to communicate
as never and

171ever before.Those are
extraordinary challenges.2It's the small and the close-in
terms of3the family and the community.But
we are all as4one with what Cyberspace has done, with what5technology has done in bringing us together and6giving us the opportunity to communicate.7Now, it won't be communication
in many8instances face-to-face, it will be how we9communicate in a civil way and a gracious way and
10a respectful way in chat rooms
and things like
11that.So it's a wonderful new world.
12QUESTION:First of all, I would like to
13thank you for being such a
supporter of conflict
14resolution.And I was also going to ask you --
15and this is from the whole group,
too -- to go to
16some of the big politicians like
Mr. Clinton and
17Mr. Dole, Mr. Gingrich and some
of the senators
18and try and convince them that
mediation is a good
19alternative to suing and
litigation.
20MS. RENO:Bravo.
21(Applause)
22What President Clinton
did within this
23past year was to direct all the
government
24agencies in the executive branch
to develop -- and
25he issued an executive order --
to develop an

181alternative dispute resolution program.He asked2the Department of Justice to forge the lead in3this effort.I have indicated
some of the things4that we have done, but we have asked other5agencies to meet with us, the Department of6Treasury, the Department of Health and Human7Services.And we are working with
their general8counsel to try to do everything we can do to9spread the message of ADR and dispute resolution
10throughout the entire government.And we are
11going to continue that
effort.
12I think it's not only a
matter of
13mediation, though.I think it's important for us
14all, Republicans and Democrats,
to stop using the
15invective that hurts and tears
and confuses and
16use respectful, thoughtful
language that can help
17us reach agreement rather than to
split us apart.
18And that's what I have tried to
do as the Attorney
19General.And President Clinton has been
20marvelously supportive of me in
that effort.
21(Applause)
22QUESTION:Hello.My name is Tajai and
23I am from Bronx, New York.I had a question sort
24of like a statement.What I seem to find out is
25that in like places where there's
a lot of

191minorities and the wave of crime within teenagers2is growing.And instead of having
like mediation3centers they have a lot more police.And it's not4fair because the police like can harass the5teenagers, you know.And it's not
helping us out. 6It's not helping none of the teenagers.7I think in every projects, you
know,8across the nation there should be a mediation9center where teenagers can turn to and have people
10to talk to.
11(Applause)
12MS. RENO:That's a wonderful suggestion
13and I am going to follow up.And one of the
14things that I would like to do is
my address is
15Tenth Avenue and Constitution in
Washington, D.C.,
16the Department of Justice.Don't just wait until
17I come back when I am a little,
old lady.Keep
18the ideas coming.
19Youth violence is
increasing not only in
20minority communities but across
the nation.It
21began in about 1985, I think,
with the
22proliferation of guns as part of
the crack
23epidemic.I have some good news but I don't want
24to get self-satisfied about
it.Two years ago the
25murder rate amongst young people
started to go

201down.It's now down a second rear
in a row.For2the first time since 1985 the
youth violence rate3is down.I don't want it to be a
blip on the4screen, particularly when we recognize that more5young people -- there are going to be more young6people in the age category of 7 and 10, 12 to 17.7What we have tried to do
through8President Clinton's community policing initiative9is to put a new face on policing, a face that
10says -- that can be a firm, fair
person respected
11in the community who can reach
out and help people
12solve problems, who can
mediate.And it is
13wonderful to see a community
police officer
14serving as a mediator working to
solve problems.
15I am going to go back
to Washington and
16look at the idea of how we can
develop mediation
17centers that will help address
this area.
18There are other
instances.We have got
19to find good, constructive
programs for people
20after school and in the
evening.And we are
21focusing on that.I think that is vitally
22important.We have got to do everything we can to
23keep our young people in school
and to make school
24challenging to enable young
people to graduate
25from high school with a skill that can enable
them

211to earn a living wage.2These are ideas that young
people are3giving me.I will never forget
sitting in a4juvenile detention facility in Kansas City, in5Omaha, and a young man said -- I said what could6have been done to prevent this problem in the7first place.8And he said something to do in
the9afternoon and evening, something that was
10constructive that could challenge
me.And
11somebody to talk to, some adult
who understood how
12hard it is to grow up, and knew
when to give me a
13pat on the back and when to give
me a figurative
14kick in the backside.And he said, I just needed
15somebody.
16So there is so much
that we can do.So
17keep your ideas coming.And I will go back to
18Washington.
19Now, one of the things,
somebody wrote
20me and said -- he had an
idea.He said, I haven't
21seen anything yet.Sometimes progress is slow.
22But I keep trying and I do see
change.And your
23ideas are so important.
24(Applause)
25QUESTION:My name is Chris.I agree

221with what Tajai just said.And as
Attorney2General I am sure you know that youth crimes are3going up.But presently, what are
you doing to4solve this problem?5MS. RENO:What we have done is I have6designated one of my top people as the person in7charge of a youth violence initiative trying to8focus on how the U.S. attorneys and the Department9of Justice can work together with state and local
10officials to reweave the fabric
of community
11around our young people.
12I want to make sure
that punishment for
13young people is fair and firm and
fits the crime,
14that it is not excessive, that it
is not a slap on
15the wrist but that it's fair and
it's perceived to
16be fair.I want to make sure, however -- and I
17can try to push this, and in
trying to get people
18to understand how important it is
-- if you send a
19young person who has committed a
serious crime to
20a youthful offender facility and
then send them
21out back to the "Department
Of The Open Air Drug
22Market," where they got into
trouble in the first
23place with no supervision and no
support, that
24doesn't make any sense.
25So I have been pushing
to try to develop

231aftercare programs for those who have been in the2juvenile justice system to give them a chance to3come back with a fresh start.4The President has focused on
guns.And5we have a youth handgun initiative that focuses on6initiatives that will keep guns out of the hands7of the young people.8And there are some innovative
and9creative things being done across the country,
10tracing these guns back as well
to the people who
11got them into the hands of young people, and
are
12taking effective action again
them.
13As I indicated earlier,
I think in many
14instances violence is a learned
behavior.And one
15of the most important places it
can be learned is
16in the home.So we're focusing on domestic
17violence, for the child that sees
his father beat
18his mother comes to accept
violence as a way of
19life.
20And Congress has passed
a significant
21sum of money providing for shelters and
innovative
22programs to reduce domestic
violence.
23But most of all, I
think it's important
24to keep our young people out of
trouble in the
25first place.Almost all the young people in this

241country and in this world want to be somebody,2they want to contribute, they want to make a3difference, they want to be involved.And they4only need in many instances just a helping hand or5a shove or a push.6I want to make sure that from
the time a7child is born that we give them the medical care,8the education, the support, the structure, the9afternoon and evening programs, the conflict
10resolution and community programs
that will give
11them the skills to grow as
strong, constructive
12human beings.
13When I first came to
Washington and
14started talking like that some
people said she
15didn't sound like an Attorney
General, she sounds
16more like a social worker.
17(Applause)
18I explained to them
that it was neither
19one nor the other, that when you
raise children --
20I remember my mother who was a
wonderful lady.
21She worked in the home, she
taught us to play
22baseball and to appreciate
symphonies; she thought
23us to play fair; she punished us,
sometimes I
24thought too hard.And she loved us with all her
25heart.And there is no child care in the world

251that will ever be a substitute for what that lady2was in our lives.3But as you grow up you need
the4boundaries set.You need to know
if you cross the5boundaries there will be a fair punishment.But6most of all you need the love and the support and7the instruction that will keep you from crossing8those boundaries.9And so I think it's a
combination of
10everything, most of all common
sense and love and
11hard work.And we have all got to go about it.
12One of the great things
that I see
13happening now is that nobody,
almost nobody,
14criticizes me about talking like
this anymore, and
15most of all, the police chiefs
and mayors and
16people who in are in the
communities who are
17forging appliances with young people,
with social
18workers, with police officers,
with parks and
19recreation people and businesses
to provide
20positive, strong programs for our
children.
21We are making a
difference and it's one
22of the reasons is because we're
involved with
23children and young people.
24(Applause)
25QUESTION:My name is Talia and I am

261from Westminster, California.And
I wanted to2ask, one of the major issues that we have brought3up in the youth conference is exposure to4mediation.For people to be in
mediation or to5have a better understanding of how mediation works6or how you can use it they have to know what7mediation is.And I just wanted
to know, because8exposure is not really made with mediation, I was9wondering if there were any plans exposing
10mediation to the public, or if
there were plans or
11implementation of new mediation
centers or
12anything, when is it, what is the
time range, what
13period?
14MS. RENO:Our Office of Justice
15programs working with juvenile
justice programs
16working with the Department of
Educations is about
17to release a guide on how schools
can go about
18developing conflict resolution
programs including
19mediation programs and how they
can be developed
20in juvenile justice
institutions.
21 We are trying to reach
out to all
22concerned to do everything we can
to participate
23and to be an appropriate player
in this whole
24educational process.One of the things that I
25have learned is that sometimes mediation
takes

271different forms.I volunteer in
the Washington,2D.C. school system.I have
adopted a school and I3also try to volunteer in terms of developing,4supporting conflict resolution mediation and5community mediation programs.And
we're trying to6do everything we can to support that effort.7It is fascinating to see
teachers8learning about mediation and to see different9roles that people are undertaking.So we're in
10the process and we would welcome
any suggestions
11you have as to what more we can
do.
12With respect to
community mediation, the
13National Institute of Justice,
which is one of the
14Department of Justice's agencies,
is involved in
15and is sponsoring an assessment
of what is working
16and what has been developed in
the community
17mediation.And I think that we need to do
18everything we can to spread the
word.
19But most of all, it is
important to
20spread the word about what is
working.And thus
21essential to all of our efforts
is evaluating and
22understanding what works and what
doesn't work, so
23that we get sound, solid
information out to
24schools, to social service
agencies, to police and
25to other institutions.

281(Applause)2QUESTION:My name is Sara from Toronto,3Ontario.As a Canadian citizen
and one of the 504community delegates that are here, I wanted to5know what you are doing, how you are working with6the Canadian government in conflict resolution.7MS. RENO:Well, one of the reasons --8the first time I heard about that meeting, now9almost a year ago, was from your Minister of
10Justice, Alan Roth.And I have been to Ottawa and
11met with Mr. Gray, the Solicitor
General, and
12Mr. Roth, the Minister of
Justice.And it was
13Mr. Roth who told me what native
Americans in
14Canada were doing, First Nations
in Canada in
15terms of sentencing circles and
dispute resolution
16and conflict resolution.
17I then had the
opportunity to learn what
18Barry Stuart was doing in the
Yukon.And he told
19me about this meeting.
20(Applause)
21And so, in fact, Canada
has had a great
22influence on my being here and
has given me a lot
23of new and wonderful
thoughts.And I have been
24very appreciative of it.
25(Applause)

291QUESTION:Good afternoon.My name is2Meryl and I am from Seattle.3And earlier on in your speech
you asked4us if we had any suggestions to help you with what5are you doing here and what you are doing in local6government and also in Washington, D.C., and7what's going on with the FBI and the police and8everything.9And for me as a youth I feel
that we
10should bring in conflict
resolution inside of our
11police force because a lot of
times youth aren't
12and cops aren't understanding
each other.And
13also, that a lot of times rookie
cops -- I see
14this in my city -- rookie cops
have that power
15trip and they want to feel over
the youth.And
16they harass us and they don't
talk to us as
17people.
18And I feel that youth
and also cops
19should come together and talk and
have a forum.
20We have tried this in Seattle and
it's worked
21 somewhat but it's not as
good.And I wish that we
22would initiate conflict
resolution as a curriculum
23for the students who are going
into the police
24force, and that they should learn
how to
25communicate better with the youth
and also with

301other people of minorities because I see that a2lot, especially where I live.3(Applause)4MS. RENO:That is an excellent idea. 5And let me tell you, I have seen the other side of6the coin because this is one of the areas that7we're trying to address in everything that we do8in terms of community policing and police9training.
10But to show you what can be done, I
was
11in Dorchester,
Massachusetts.They had a
12significant crime problem, a
significant problem
13with youth violence.And it's now over two years
14ago.There was a community session ongoing.
15Community police officers were
there.They were
16working with churches, with
community activists,
17trying to really come together to
address the
18problem of youth violence.
19And there were two
young men there.And
20they stood and up they said,
well, we have got a
21good story to tell you.We were on our way to
22getting into real trouble.We started getting
23into some minor trouble and we
were well on our
24way.But these two guys -- and they pointed
to
25two uniformed policeman standing
behind them --

311took us down, sat us down, talked to us, talked to2us real -- treated us with respect, became our3friends.They are our mentors and
we are well on4our way to helping other young people to stay out5of trouble because of what they have been able to6do.7One of most moving moments that
I have8seen was when those two young men came with those9two police officers to the Department of Justice
10where President Clinton was
visiting and were able
11to stand there and tell the
President of the
12United States what two police
officers who
13understood how important it was
to talk to young
14people with respect and with
regard, what those
15two police officers had been able
to do.
16Now, I don't know
whether those two
17police officers had had training
in conflict
18resolution.But I think they and your comments
19reflect a desperate need, whether
it be teachers,
20police officers or other people
in authority, we
21have got to learn to talk with
respect, with
22regard.And we have got to listen and we have
got
23to understand the other person's
point of view.
24I am going to go back
following up on
25the mediation center to make sure
that we're doing

321everything we can in terms of spreading the word2about conflict resolution amongst the police.3(Applause)4QUESTION:I would just like to say that5how is the government giving funding or anything6for programs like these in order to like expand7them to the society?Because most
of the people8don't know about it, like about mediation and9everything.We need more
money.Come on.Money
10is like we need to extend it in
like newspapers,
11commercials, anything, you know,
because it's like
12the power of advertising.
13MS. RENO:We are looking at ways that
14we can use moneys to prompt and
to educate people
15about conflict resolution.But let me give you a
16challenge because I am facing
that challenge.
17There is something that
is happening
18that is exciting in the
communities.If you look
19at history, during the 1930s
there was a very
20serious depression in this
country.People were
21very poor.They didn't have very much money and
22they tended to look to Washington
for the first
23time for money to solve their problems.And
24Washington responded and we
slowly began to come
25out of the depression.

331With World War II people looked
to2Washington more often as a place to get problems3solved.With the civil rights
efforts of the 50s4and 60s people looked to Washington for justice. 5And in the 70s people looked to Washington for an6awful lot of money.7And then in 1980 Washington
started8shifting the programs to the states.But it9didn't give them any money.And
the states
10started shifting the programs to
communities and
11it didn't give them any
money.And then
12communities in this country, with
their back up
13against the wall, started coming
together.And
14instead of everybody competing
for the money they
15started saying, look, we have got
three different
16programs.If we bring them together we can avoid
17duplication and we can make them
work.
18What we're trying to do
is go to
19communities and say you
understand your needs and
20resources better than we do.It may be conflict
21resolution in one instance; it may
be a program to
22deal with teen pregnancy in
another instance.We
23want to work with you and try to
be the best
24partner we can in getting moneys
to you in ways
25that count.

341But first of all, you have got
to show2that you have eliminated the duplication and that3you have brought people together and are working4together.And so conflict
resolution is one of5the keys to this effort.6There is going to be less and
less money7as Congress tries to cut back and balance the8budget.But we are going to try
to make sure that9it's invested as wisely as possible in programs
10that can invest in our future,
i.e., programs that
11help build strong and health
youth.
12(Applause)
13QUESTION:My name is Lupe Sanchez and
14I'm from Massachusetts.Up in Massachusetts we
15got street mediation.We also got school
16mediation.I think where we was at, we see the
17street mediation will reach more
people and it
18would help the communities and
all of that.
19Now, this program was
working pretty
20good but the funding -- I guess
every state got a
21local government or something,
and I guess the
22local government stopped the
funding and all that.
23You know, they want this program
to work.They
24want the mediation to work out
and everything.
25But then again, they say they
will support us but

351they supported like in the moneywise.Maybe the2funding is kind of hard to get.3But this program, the street mediation4was really working.And I mean I
remember a5couple of cases that I solved in the street there6like could have been like 15 people arrested right7now.You know what I mean.And other people8handled some other mediations, they say.9I know some states or other
countries
10they don't have street mediation,
only schoolwise.
11I was wondering if like the
street mediation could
12be more recognized and also the
schools.
13MS. RENO:Where are you from in
14Massachusetts?
15QUESTION:I am from -- I think everyone
16knows this -- but Greenfield,
around there.
17MS. RENO:I have a pretty good idea.
18What I would like you to do is --
where did he go?
19There he is.That's David Jones over there.
20Would you give him the details of
the program.
21The young man from
Bronx, the comments
22that have been made, one of the
things that is
23clear to me is that we need to
look at what we can
24do in the street and in community
centers and in
25mediation.And so I need to know what was working

361in your area and see what we can do.Because I2think this is a theme that is clearly coming out3of your comments today.4(Applause)5VOICE:We would like to thank the6Honorable Attorney General Janet Reno for7answering all of our questions -- and there were8some good questions -- and taking the time out to9be here and coming to talk with us.And thank you
10very much.
11(Applause)
12VOICE:And on behalf of everyone here
13at the SPIDR Conference we would
like to present
14you with this SPIDR
t-shirt.
15(Applause)
16And on behalf the
William Jennings
17Bryant Environments Conflict
Resolution Program in
18Cleveland, Ohio, we would like to
present with you
19this Wave t-shirt.
20(Applause)
21(At 12:05 p.m., the
meeting was
22concluded.)
23
24
25

371CERTIFICATE2STATE OF CALIFORNIA)3) ss.4COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES)56I, DARYL BAUCUM, CSR No. 10356,
a7resident of the County of Los Angeles, State of8California, declare:9That the foregoing proceedings
were
10taken before me at the time and
place herein set
11forth, at which time the
aforesaid proceedings
12were stenographically recorded by
me and
13thereafter transcribed under my
supervision; and
14That the foregoing
transcript, as typed,
15is a true record of the said
proceedings.
16IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I
have subscribed my
17name this 18th day of October,
1996.
18
19
20____________________________
21
22Daryl Baucum, CSR
No. 10356
23
24
25